


Bells and Braids

by Kalira



Series: The Rise of Umigakure (and its Pirate Ninja Empress) [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: trope_bingo, Fluff, Gen, Hair Braiding, Pirate Ninja, Pirates, Trope Bingo Round 14, Zabuza-sensei
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24759880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: Sakura's least favourite part of living aboard a ship is the merry hell the winds play with her hair; Haku may have a solution to this problem that suits her well - one that is both practical and pretty.
Relationships: Haku & Haruno Sakura
Series: The Rise of Umigakure (and its Pirate Ninja Empress) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671472
Comments: 6
Kudos: 64
Collections: Trope Bingo Round 14, Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	Bells and Braids

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 'AU: Pirates' space on my [Trope Bingo board](https://kalira.dreamwidth.org/24550.html)! I knew as soon as I got the board I would have to do something with this series for it, but went through several ideas before settling on this flufflet, in the earlier days on the sea. . .

Sakura hummed, lips pursed, and trailed a fingertip along one of the hatched ‘lacking detail’ coastlines. They had been sailing in the general area for the past three days and had yet to come across it, so either something _very big_ had happened - possible, but unlikely, surely; even ninja of higher calibre rarely used jutsu so earth-shattering; that was for generations now long gone - or it was a little more than ‘lacking detail’.

Still, it wasn’t the first time they’d gone searching with very little to work from, Sakura was confident they’d be successful eventually.

There was a knock at the cabin door, and Sakura raised her head. “Yes?”

Haku stepped through the door with a smile, lifting his left hand and tilting the heavy, carved wooden box he held as he closed the door behind himself. “Time for a break, don’t you think, imouto?” he asked, brushing his fingers over the edges of the maps on her table as he approached.

Sakura pouted, but let herself be distracted. “I suppose. . .”

“You’ve been working at these for days. So has Zabuza-sama.” Haku said, clicking his tongue.

“So have you.” Sakura pointed out, raising her eyebrows, and Haku laughed, putting the box down on the table.

“Perhaps. There is nothing more to be done for now, however. Agreed?” Haku asked, cupping Sakura’s face between his palms. Sakura pouted at him more pointedly, but nodded agreeably. “Here, look what I found while going through the last haul.”

Haku ran his fingers through Sakura’s hair down past her collarbone, then gestured at the box. Sakura wriggled a little in her chair and leaned forwards to open it, surprised at the little baubles layered on pale red velvet inside.

“There may be no flowers out here on the sea,” Haku said, plucking a bit of jade carved to look like a leaf and so deep a green it could have masqueraded as an emerald from the box, “but I thought you might find these make your braids less _boring_?”

Sakura’s cheeks warmed. She’d been sulking some weeks ago about the knots in her hair from the sea breezes, made worse by the salt in the air, and then about how having her hair in a long braid instead was . . . boring and irritating. It had been a moment of frustration, not seriously meant, and Sakura was embarrassed he had recalled it.

“Haku-nee. . .”

Haku laughed, moving around her and trailing his fingers over her shoulder this time. “Shall we do something more fun?” he asked, and reached around her to tip the box, which clinked softly, then jingled. Sakura looked at it again, and Haku tipped the leaf back into the box, picking up a small silvery bell instead, jingling it. “Let me?”

Sakura tipped her head back to look at him, and Haku smiled. Sakura laughed. “Anything you want.” she agreed, curious.

Haku squeezed her shoulders and then gave a gentle tug, and Sakura leaned back under his hands. Haku pulled the ribbon from her hair and put it on the table before beginning to unwind the single long braid she had put her hair in the night before.

Haku’s fingers were deft and gentle, combing out the tight plait and rubbing over her temples and back over her head. Sakura sighed contentedly, the soft creaking of the ship around her soothing and familiar now, almost lulling her to sleep combined with the soft touches.

After a time Haku took up a brush and smoothed her hair out even more. Sakura shifted lazily, pushing into his hands, and she smiled a little as he kissed the top of her head.

Sakura made a questioning sound as he set the brush down but didn’t begin parting her hair to rebraid it.

“I think you may like this better.” Haku said, but only hummed when Sakura asked what he was doing. “Wait and see.”

Sakura pouted, but waited patiently. It wasn’t long before Haku leaned closer and dangled-

“Oh!” Sakura looked at a slender braid of her hair, three bright jade beads along its length and a shining bell where the tail was bound off. Haku bounced it just enough to make the bell jingle and she laughed. It was not practical - not the way that Sakura had learned to be on land, but here on the ocean. . . And it was _pretty_.

Selecting another bead, this one carved like a simple flower - it could have been flax, or perhaps even a sakura, if the wrong colour entirely, the stone so pale a green it was almost white - Haku smoothed her hair and Sakura felt him begin another braid.

It took a long while, but Sakura was enjoying both the light stroking, tugging sensation of her hair being played with and the easy conversation with her dearest friend. She also found herself swiftly distracted whenever she might have thought of returning to her inspection of the maps laid out before her. She smiled slightly, fond and amused more than frustrated. Haku had a delicate touch, with both hands and words, but he was at _least_ as good at getting his way as their sensei.

Possibly better. Sakura had seen Haku wheedle Zabuza-sensei into things without seemingly even being aware of what he was doing - not that Sakura had hesitated much before trying it herself, either. Zabuza-sensei was a good sensei and he looked after them both well for all his gruff feigning of distance or lack of affection. It wasn’t a very good pretense anyway, not to them.

As another handful of jingling braids fell over her shoulder, Sakura toyed with them happily, running the pads of her fingers over the smooth weave of her hair and the smooth jade and metal twined along it. She asked if Haku favoured such a style for his own hair. She’d never seen him do so, but-

“No.” Haku laughed, fingers trailing over her shoulders and neck. “I prefer something simpler, but I think it suits you, imouto.” He kissed the top of her head again.

“Haku! Sakura-chan!” Zabuza-sensei opened the door and gave them a faint smile.

“Sensei!” Sakura lifted a hand, holding back from jumping to her feet as Haku was still busy with her hair.

“Zabuza-san.” Haku greeted. “Are we needed abovedecks?”

“We are in sight of land.” Zabuza-sensei said, and lowered his gaze to meet Sakura’s. “You were quite right, Sakura-chan; the coastline is just as you plotted . . . and some leagues further than those ridiculous assertions.” He gestured at the maps.

Sakura grinned happily. “I was well-taught.” she demurred, and Zabuza-sense smiled at her.

“I’ll work on these more later.” Haku said, tugging at one more braid and then releasing it to fall down her back, heavy with metal and stone, a comfortable weight. He took up her ribbing and tied it around her hair, keeping it neatly from her brow, the knot against her neck. “Shall we go up?”

Sakura bounced to her feet. “Yes! Let’s see what’s out there for us- Right, Zabuza-sensei?”

“Anything for the taking, Sakura-chan.” Zabuza-sensei said with a sharp little laugh, and Sakura’s grin widened.

“Yes! Let’s go!” Sakura paused, kissing Haku’s cheek. “Thanks, Haku-nee.” she added, toying with some of her braids.

“Very pretty.” Zabuza-sensei said, voice low, as she passed by him at the door, and Sakura smiled brightly up at him only to receive a gentle pat to her head, his hand sliding down her hair without catching on any of the new baubles.

“Thank you!” Sakura trailed him back up onto the deck of their ship on light feet and a lighter heart, and even the sharp wind slicing across the deck and towards the shore couldn’t dampen her spirits, even as her hair whipped around her. Not so fiercely as when it was all loose, the weight of the ornaments keeping the braids more restrained, and the braids themselves keeping her hair from tangling across her face. She smiled as she peered at the shore, proud to see her educated guesses _had_ been mostly correct, and happy to see that there were no settlements in range - not yet.

She and Haku turned their attention to Zabuza-sensei as he gestured to the shore and began to outline a plan.


End file.
